Marvin R. Shanken

Marvin R. Shanken (born October 4, 1943) is an American publisher and founder of M. Shanken Communications. Shanken's roster of lifestyle publications includes Wine Spectator, Cigar Aficionado and Whisky Advocate. Based in Manhattan, M. Shanken Communications' headquarters store thousands of bottles of wine for tasting and review.

Shanken grew up in New Haven, Connecticut. He earned an undergraduate business degree from the University of Miami, then earned an MBA at American University.

Shanken started his career in real estate and investment banking, then moved into publishing in 1973, purchasing Impact, a small wine and spirits industry newsletter. His company has expanded to other trade publications including Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Impact Newsletter. He purchased Wine Spectator a few years after its 1976 founding and he launched Cigar Aficionado in September 1992. He also spearheaded Wine Spectator’s entry to the digital world, with mobile apps including Wine Spectator WineRatings+, Xvalues and Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards.

As editor of the several lifestyle titles under his family of publications, Shanken has interviewed famous-yet-elusive leaders, artists and celebrities including Fidel Castro (1994), Francis Ford Coppola (2003), General Tommy Franks (2003), Michael Jordan (2005) and Robert De Niro (2015).

Shanken is the creator of several annual charity events including Wine Spectator’s New York Wine Experience weekend started in 1981; Cigar Aficionado’s Night to Remember dinner for prostate cancer since 1993; and the Els for Autism Pro-Am golf tournament, which together have raised more than $50 million. The monies have been donated to many educational and culinary institutions. He is also founder of the Wine Spectator Scholarship Foundation, which funded the Wine Spectator Learning Center at Sonoma State University in California, opening in the summer of 2017 and more than 600 scholarships and grants for students at the University of California, Davis School of Viticulture and Enology.

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